Asher Armstrong

Biography

American pianist Asher Armstrong can be seen frequently in Canada, the US and Europe as a recitalist, chamber performer, and orchestra soloist. His performances have been noted for their "total honesty with regards to the composer and the connection to the audience... an imaginative, sensitive, powerful, wide pallette of sounds... deep and sophisticated tone quality," "deeply expressive and sensitive spirit," "astounding technique and originality," "marvelous, huge sound" and for an unusually intuitive communicative power: "listening to Asher perform gives one the impression he is a 'piano natural,' born to play the piano."

Asher's first encounters with music involved the sounds of the acoustic and folk traditions of Appalachia, but studies with an enthusiastic pianist from South Africa made him fall in love with the keyboard, and he remembers early exposure to piano recitals and orchestra concerts as a highlight of his childhood. A prizewinner in many local competitions (MTNA Young Artist, Celebration of Excellence Competition, University of Maryville Concerto competition), Asher made his solo recital debut at the age of 14 in a performance of Chopin's B-flat minor Sonata and works of Liszt, and subsequently with orchestra in a performance of the Grieg Piano Concerto.

Asher has worked with many of the leading pianists of North America and Europe, including Michael Chertock (University of Cincinnati College–Conservatory of Music), Kevin Kenner (Royal College of Music, London), Nicholas Ashton (Ian Tomlin Academy of Music, Edinburgh), Margarita Schevchenko (Cleveland Institute of Music), Tamara Poddubnaya (Prins Claus Conservatorium, Netherlands), James Giles (Northwestern University), Fay Adams (University of Tennessee), and the world-renowned Romanian concert pianist and teacher Marietta Orlov, herself a student or the legendary Florica Musicescu (teacher of Radu Luu and Dinu Lipatti). Asher has also studied chamber and vocal repertoire with many of the leading collaborative pianists, including Sandra Rivers, Gabriel Dobner, and James Myers, among others. A graduate of the University of Tennessee (Bmus), Asher completed the Master of Music at the University of Cincinnati College–Conservatory of Music and holds a Doctor of Music Arts degree in Piano Performance from the University of Toronto's Faculty of Music.

A passionate, committed teacher, Asher is on the Piano Faculty of the University of Toronto, and formerly served as Assistant Professor of Piano at the University of Arkansas. Asher has also taught at the Interlochen School of Arts (Interlochen, MI), the Indian Springs Academy of Music (Cincinnati, OH), and the Kingsway Conservatory of Music (Toronto, ON), and has served on faculty at a number of other community music schools. While members of Asher's studio have included competition prizewinners and students of some of the top musical institutions (such as Eastman, NEC, McGill, Manhattan, and CCM), he teaches students of all levels and backgrounds, and believes that every student should feel confident with the results of their piano study and musical growth.

Asher maintains an active concert career: notable recent engagements include local solo recital performances at the Royal College of Music (London, UK), the Walton Arts Center and Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art, and the University of Arkansas, as well as appearances as concerto soloist with Pax Christi Chorale and the Mozart Players of Toronto (Beethoven's Choral Fantasy), and with the North York Concert Orchestra (Tchaikovsky's B-flat minor Piano Concerto). Asher has frequently appearted as a recitalist, adjudicator, and masterclass clinician at many festivals, competitions, and schools (collegiate and secondary) in both Canada and the U.S. Asher is a proud member of the Royal Conservatory's College of Examiners, serving as an Advanced Specialist, as well as a pedagogical consultant and consistent adjudicator. In his performance career, scholarly work, and in his teaching, Asher seeks to simultaneously illuminate established repertoire and to advocate for neglected repertoire. Recent projects illustrating these interests include a lecture recital on Vitezslava Kapralova give for the "From he Artist Bench" series (Francis Clark Center for Keyboard Pedagogy), as well as publications on newly published piano music of Florence Price and the last opus of Amy Beach (Piano Maganize), Chinese–Canadian composure Vincent Ho (Canandian Music Teacher), Spanish-Mexican composer Emiliana de Zubeldia (MTNA E-Journal), and many others (including substantial contributions to Cambridge University Press' Tempo, Clavier, American Music Teacher, the European Piano Teachers Association Piano Journal, and the Kapralova Society Journal). In addition to his published work, Asher cultivates a conscientious, ongoing initiative towards inclusive programming in his own performances and in those of his students.

Asher calls Toronto home, where he also maintains a private studio.